Nocere – Earth Disasters

Shahdadkot, Pakistan is begining to look like a lake in areas. On Saturday, rising water jeopardised the mud shoulders which if broken down could put the enitre city under water, Shahdadkot is located in the Sindh province in Pakistan.

Pakistan is suffering from the biggest natural disaster it has ever seen. People are desperately trying to get out of the area to escape the second round of monsoon waters as it soars towards the southern areas.

In some areas already you can only see the roofs of houses that are beneath the flood waters. Everyone living in the area has been advised to leave.

People are piling all their belongings that they can fit onto old trucks and buses. They then ride onto of their belongings trying to get out of the area before the floods hit. Lots of them have no definite plan of where they are going. They only want to reach higher ground out of the range of the water.

There aren’t enough vehicles to help everyone get out. Some could be left behind trying to get as far above the water as they can.

In Pakistan, there are many towns that are also under water as is Shahdadkot. The water is predicted to start going down in the next few days. The last of it will recede into the Indus River and then on into the Arabian Sea.

After the waters recede, the dangers do not end. Then they will have the problem of no clean fresh water. People will be walking through polluted water in the streets. Over 200 places where they could get health care have been storm-beaten or ruined. This leaves people with no proper care  and the spreading of disease is inevitable.

There are at approximately 4 million people that are without homes.

Popularity: 8% [?]

In Leh, a flash flood went through the city on Friday. Leh is approximately 310 miles from Srinagar.

As of Sunday, the total of deaths as a result of the flooding and landslides was 145. That was as reported by the official Press Trust of India.

The people, searching for survivors, keep pushing on searching for any of the 500 still missing.

There was a huge amount of rain that fell last week which caused the landslides. They happened while people were still in their beds sleeping. Electrical lines were taken down, whole villages demolished, and cars were over turned.

The searchers hoping to find survivors are walking through mud that comes up to their knees in the city of Leh.

There are close to 6000 military personnel that have been sent to help out.

Helicopters are being brought in to try and reach areas that are not able to be driven to because of damaged roadways.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Possibly more the 37 people died in the raging waters beneath a bridge in China that fell into the river.

After many days of rain pouring down and running into the river, the waters rose and exceeded what the river bed could hold.

It is possible that fallen trees floating down the rushing waters collected at the base of the bridge allowing a build up debris to put pressure on the bridge supports.

It only took 2 minutes for the bridge to totally collapse into the raging river water.

Very few escaped before the bridge fell into the river. Numerous people ended up in the water below struggling to reach trees or anything else to help then stay afloat in the water.

37 have been reported to have perished in the accident, while possibly more have yet to be found. The number could grow as they learn of more people that could have been on the bridge.

Rescuers are searching spots where people could still be holding on for dear life, or bodies could be hung up in debris.

Popularity: 4% [?]

A landslide caused by rain fall took the lives of 18 people. The landslide occurred in the eastern parts of Indonesia on the island of Buru which is located itn the Maluku province..

The landslide took out many homes as it traveled down the hill side.

Heavy rainfall and lack of trees allowed the land to start sliding down. Without trees, there is nothing to hold the mud back.

The rainfall also was the cause of floods sweeping though towns taking the lives of 3 people.

There were over 3000 families whose lives were stricken by the flooding that started on Saturday.

This is the time of year that landslides happen quite a lot in Indonesia. They occur the most between April and December.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The flooding that has not let up in China has caused the destruction of 5700 homes and has been the reason that there are at least 152,000 people that have  been relocated in northeastern parts of China this past week.

China has experienced some of the worst flooding this year in over a 10 years. The floods have caused the deaths of 701 people and there are another 347 that haven’t been found.

According to the China Daily, the newspaper run by the state, the flooding this year has resulted in $21 billion dollars in damage.

Rising waters have pushed the flood wall reinforcements to their limit. The govenment of China has plans to reinforce the flood walls at all the smaller reservoirs.

There are approximately 81,000 small reservoirs in China. So far there have  been 9200 strengthened but many of of smaller ones need work done on them and reinforced also.

Most of the damages from the flooding is found in the north eastern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin. To help stranded people the civil affairs department has sent supplies of tents and quilts.

Now Chanthu made landfall on Thursday This is the third typhoon this time of year for the southern parts of China. With it has come winds of 71 miles per hour.

The already saturated parts of China could get another 20 inches of rain from Chanthu.

Popularity: 3% [?]

There were 18 people who perished and another 57 they are searching for as Tropical Storm Conson rages it’s fury across the Philippines.

The locals referred to Conson as Basyang.

The storm traveled through the Philippines on Wednesday. As of 4am ET it had started to grow weaker. The maximum winds were 53mph except in the center where they reached 62mph.

It was late Tuesday evening when Conson hit the shores on the north side of the Philippine island of Luzon. Luzon is located about 41 miles on the east side of Manila, the capital. By Wednesday afternoon, the storm was back out in the South China Sea and moving along about 112 miles on the western side of Iba.

4 people perished when a warehouse fell on them. Then there were many other people taken down by falling trees and other rubble. There are also those that drowned.

There was many people without electricity and close to 500 homes that had received storm damage. Then over 4000 people were left marooned in different ports along with 26 watercrafts.

Conson is suppose to enter China on Friday but the storm isn’t suppose to gain any more power before it hits. When it does hit, there is predicted to be heavy downpours and floods in the southern parts of China.

This storm is the first typhoon of the 2010 season. It became one on Monday.

Popularity: 4% [?]

In the western parts of China, in three different areas, Xiaohe, Sichuan, and Sima all suffered with landslides in the predawn hours on Tuesday.

While there was activity of draining down a dangerous rapidly rising reservoir in another part of China, 17 people loss their lives in landslides.

4 people perished and another 42 missing in Xiaohe which is located in Yunnan. There were 38 others wounded.

In Sichuan, a nearby province, 7 more perished and one was still not found. While searching for a survivor, 6 others that had died where discovered.

The landslides are the result of the heavy rainfall that the area has been receiving this year.

Rescuers continue to search for people at all three area.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Downpours of rain swept through two Brazilian states taking with it at least 41 lives. Another 120,000 people have lost their homes.

They are in the process of trying to get food and medical help to these homeless people.

Bridges fell, roads have been cut off leaving no access to many cities. There have been reports that 600 people have not been located yet, but they are thinking most are out of danger.

“We think the number missing is much, much smaller,” said Cpl. Edward Rocha, with the Alagoas Civil Defense.

The rains that began last week released a months worth of rain in just two days time in Alagoas and Pernambuco. There have been some small areas totally destroyed by the flood water.

Near the city of Uniao, it looked like a tsunami had passed through it. One of the areas that was hit the worst.

People are staying in over crowded schools that have no homes to return to.

About 200 or more soldiers have gone to Alagoas to help search for survivors. They will also help with the clean up effort as the water recedes.

Popularity: 3% [?]